Got a 2012 Prius C

yeah, that's generally why people buy them, mpg's and/or low emissions.

hate to see you take a big hit on trade, i guess you'd have to weigh it against the potential cost of a battery

 

There are many antique cars and classic cars still alive, mostly garage kept or what have you.

Salted roads will rust out a car, and you can prolong it, and help to prevent it but it is inevitable.

So not sure if you live in area where they salt the roads, but if not, the cars age will grow more
as more maintenance is done to it. eventually it will be either too much work for repairs
or too much comparable to your worth.

 

It's hard to make predictions when no Prius c is more than 9 years old right now. I'm sure somebody will keep one going 20 years, we just can't guess what he/she is going to go through pulling it off.

At some point the car depreciates down to less than the cost of any repair. This happens to every car. It's just that certain Prius repairs are more expensive, thus presenting economic "failure" earlier than a car known for cheaper repairs.

 

if you buy a new battery, you should get another 8-? years out of it, just like the original

 

Also let's keep it in perspective- congrats, you got away from a Fiesta, possibly with the Powershift-6 transmission that keeps blowing up.

 

You'll have to keep up with regular maintenance like any car. As it gets older you'll need to keep an eye on breaks, struts, water pump, and coolant / transmission fluid changes. I think if you just set aside a little bit of money every month just for potential car care, you shouldn't have to worry about troubles. And follow the Toyota maintenance schedule for your vehicle. As others have said, the Prius C's are known to be incredibly reliable so I think you should just drive and enjoy it.

But definitely find the Toyota maintenance schedule and bookmark it for reference.

 

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You might want to look into the Dr. Prius app. (priusapp dot com). It's an inexpensive way to test your hybrid battery for it's remaining life. The basic app for your phone is free. There is an add on module needed to do the test that is less than $10.00. You'll also need an OBD II connector that can be had for around $10.00 - $12.00. The app's developer recommends some at his website. There's little you can do to get around the high cost of replacing the battery with a new one, but at least after the test you will know where you stand.

I recently tested my 2012 C with 131,000 miles and was pleased to see it had 84.9% life remaining.

You have purchased a very reliable car. Good luck with it.

 

I hope I haven't brought you too much concern. I guess my overall point is that there are relatively few 15-20 year old cars of any kind still on the road, and the sophistication of the Prius won't do it any favors on the long timescale. The phenomenal build quality will help balance this, but we won't know until then.

You just have to be realistic about that, and I'm sorry if I'm coming off as too much cold water right when you're celebrating new-to-you wheels. You've still bought a very reliable car, you just know more details now.

Regarding the Fiesta- I'm not in total disparagement. I've rented a couple of them in the past year and rather enjoyed the way they drove. On the other hand, the Detroit Free Press' recent report made the transmission problem sound like a severe and common issue. I'm glad you did well with it.

 

'on average', prius is one of the most reliable cars on the road. but no one can guarantee that you won't have an expensive repair somewhere down the line.

you can really only look at your odds. mechanical things wear out and break sometimes.